Garund

Garund Brighthoof is the son of Jorund Brighthoof and the current representative of the Geit on the Chimera Council. When the White Lion Armada threatened Jotun, his father chose him to lead a joint navy of Geit called a Clansmoot to repel the invasion.
He adopted an unconventional style of command for a Geit, inspired by his father's ideals, he valued peace and cooperation over conflict. His task became more difficult when Jorund died at the hands of a rival clan. Nevertheless, with the help of the Party, his forces defeated the White Lion Armada in the Battle of the North Sea.
After the Battle, Garund used his newfound position to become the Corsairs' patron.

Loyalty: 1d12 Influence: 1d10 Faction: Southern Clans Allies: Northern Clans, the Thrall, Druid Enclaves, the Shapers
Free Services: Clansmoot Escort. The user may summon a Corvette (1d8) Escort from the Clansmoot to accompany them while sailing on any Alliance Sphere. Cool Down 1 month. Bonus : Chimera Councilor. Gain +6 Lions whenever you successfully complete an Alliance Mission.
Fame: Clan-Binder. Gain a +3 Bonus to Charisma on all checks against any person who is a member of a Geit Clan

Early Life

Garund grew up among the powerful Brighthoof clan in an age of peace and prosperity thanks to the heroic actions of his father and the Pride. As one of many siblings, he faced many obstacles to prove himself as worthy to inherit the clan. He quickly became his father's favorite child, both because he embodied the old Geit ideals of strength and combat prowess but also, more importantly, becuase he embraced his father's more modern ideals of peace and cooperation.
Garund often came with his father to Lion City where he met other children of the Pride. The Homyn Princess Halle, in particular, took a shining to him, developing a childhood crush. However, Garund ultimately followed the path of a Geit noble, taking on several wives. He still broke with tradition, as his first wife, Kana, was a druid. An able warrior in her own right, she travelled with Jorund on his voyages. Together, they had a daughter, Tae, whose curved horns and pot-belly made her the spitting image of her grandfather.

The Clansmoot

Garund's time to prove himself came when his father returned from a trip to Lion City with the task to build a Geit Clansmoot to fight the White Lion Armada. While rivalries between clans are the default state of Geit politics, in rare instances Clans will join their forces together in a “Clansmoot” to fight for the common good of Jotun. Jorund chose Garund to lead his forces. Like a snowball rolling down a mountain, a Clansmoot becomes more and more powerful the longer it lasts and the more clans join its cause. The leader of a Clansmoot is determined by the vote of participating clans as well as contests of strength and pitched battles held throughout the campaign’s duration. Therefore, calling a Clansmoot could often be a risky affair, since a Clan Chieftain may soon find his armies committed to a more qualified rival.
Jorund chose Garund to lead the Clansmoot forces. He installed his warden Biorn to advise Garund. The young Geit warrior found the old warden's wisdom invaluable, although they sometimes butted heads over Biorn's stubborn adherence to the Old Ways, a series of Geit traditions honoring the founding saints that often involved sacrifices--occasionally of the human variety.
Garund adopted an unconventional style to command the Clansmoot to align with his father's ideals. Rather than grow his army through intimidation and conquest, he only took on those ships who volunteered to fight. His famous father's presence in the Clansmoot and endorsement certainly went a long way toward making this approach work.
His personal fighting style also reflected an unconventional approach, preferring a slim pair of twin hatchets to the traditional axe and hammer fare. His light-on-his feet combat style allowed him to defeat any challengers from other clans who sought the usurp his position.

New Arrivals

With the help of his father, Garund united the clans of the South Sea to his cause. As they moved into the North Sea, the Party arrived at the Clansmoot with Princess Halle in tow. Garund was glad to see his old friend, albeit their renuion was a bit awkward with Garund's wife and daughter around.
The Party got a taste of clansmoot politics when an upstart scout from a rival clan, Jacen Bato, challenged Garund for his position. However, Garund didn't need to pick up his hatchets this time, as Royce gave the would-be usurper a talking down that had him fleeing in embarassment.

A Death in the Family

As the Clansmoot's forces crossed into the North Sea, a fire giant attacked. Garund joined the Party to fell the creature and emerged victorious. They even acquired an unexpected new member of their Clansmoot in the form of a newborn fire giant, whom they named Iggy.
Garund returned to the fleet in what should have been triumph, but instead found only tragedy. In his absence a rival clan called the Habroks had snuck aboard Jorund's ship, slaid the Geit Chieftain, and stolen his body.
The Habroks were a militaristic clan whose power had waned in recent decades. Their old rivalry with the Brighthooves was rekindled thanks to his father's brash actions against one of their representatives in Lion City and the White Lion Armada bending their ear. Regardless of their reasons, the death of a Geit as loved as Jorund Brightoof was an offense that could not go unanswered.

A Standoff with the Habroks

Five days passed without word from Gerund as the Clansmoot continued to sail North. While the other clans rallied behind the new Chieftain of Brightoof in hopes that he would avenge his father, many began to whisper that perhaps the young idealist was not up for the challenge. Rumors abounded that he was slowly losing control and support of the Clansmoot by failing to retrieve Jorund’s body and avenge his death
Finally, Jorund called the Party into his tent. Despite the blow that the Habroks had done to his family, Gerund still hoped to find a peaceful solution to the conflict so that he could fulfill his father’s promise of escorting the Corsairs to the North Pole. He asked them to go to the rival clan and find a way to get his father’s body back and avoid a pointless war. As the Corsairs were leaving, Jacen Bato, entered and announced that his men had managed to capture and raze several fishing villages outside of Habrok, cutting off their food supply. It seemed that despite Gerund’s best efforts to turn the other cheek, war among the Geit clans might be inevitable.
The Party was able to make contact with the Habrok queen, and learned that Thane Kestrel had coaxed them into battling with the Habrok Clan, as their city was slowly freezing. A proud warrior culture, the queen wished for her clan to perish in a blaze of glory fighting their ancient rivals. Before further diplomacy could take place, Jacen Bato attacked them with his scout fleet, catching the party in an avelance.
When the Party returned to the Clansmoot to report thes events, Jacen arrived at the Clansmoot announcing (prematurely) that he had killed the Windswept Queen. At this point, Garund had run out of cheeks to turn, and with some prodding from Itthis, punished Jacen's insubordination by taking his head.
He dispatched the party back to Habrok to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict that would not involve the destruction of either clan. Thanks to a hard-fought dungeon crawl on the North Pole, the Party managed to save the Habrok clan--although at the cost of the young fire giant, Iggy's heart.

The Battle of the North Sea

Hostilities ceased between the two clans just in time for the White Lion Armada to arrive in the North Sea. Garund's efforts at diplomacy bore fruit, as Queen Freya Habrok brought the entire Habrok Fleet to join his forces in battle. This boon came with a cost, however, as Freya's contributions made the Habrok clan eligible to challenge Garund for leadership of the Clansmoot.
Garund withstood this final test of command thanks to the help of the Corsairs, who had garnered favored with both sides. With a little prodding, Freya rescinded her challenge out of respect and allowed Garund to take command.
Thane Kestrel brought four White Lion Flagships to bear, a force much smaller than the combined Habrok and Clansmoot forces. But growing up with the wily kestrel brothers, Garund knew his enemy would have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Thanks to the help of the Habrok prophets, they saw the first blow coming, a betrayal at the hands of the Vindcaller Clan who watched weather patterns from Jotun's moon. Without their signals, the Clansmoot was blind to the movements of the Shrikevind. Luckily, Simon made up for this shortfall by visiting a nearby druid enclave to obtain a windmap from them.
Garund was less prepared for the next blow, when the Bato ships turned on his forces, bringing the rest of their navy to bear against the Clansmoot. In the end, Garund proved victorious, but at the heavy cost of half of the Geit fleet.

Chimera Councilor

With the Vindcallers' betrayal, the Geit removed Sigurd Vindcaller from his seat on the Chimera Council, leaving a position open. There was no doubt in their minds who should fill the vacancy. After securing the North Sea, Garund departed Jotun as the Geit's chosen representative in the Chimera Alliance.
He uses his newfound position to return the favor for the Party's help, offering them a patronship that provides them with extra rewards for performing missions for the Alliance and a substatial charisma bonus among the Geit Clans.